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Singapore THE SOCIAL SYSTEM
Ethnicity and Associations
Because Singapore was a small society open to influence
from
the West through the English language and subject to the
homogenizing effects of modernization and
industrialization, the
persistence of ethnicity as a fundamental element of its
social
structure was by no means assured. By the late 1980s
ethnic
affiliations were in many ways less significant than they
had been
in 1970 or 1940, and the lives of members of distinct
ethnic groups
had more and more common elements. In Singapore, as
elsewhere, the
forces of standardized education, impartial application of
laws and
regulations, common subordination to the impersonal
discipline of
the factory and the office, common pursuit of leisure
activities,
and exposure to international mass media resulted in many
shared
attitudes among ethnic groups. Studies of factory workers
in
Malaysia and Singapore, for example, found no marked
differences in
the attitudes and performance of Chinese and Malays.
Psychological
profiles of a cohort of poorly educated young Chinese who
had held
a succession of unskilled jobs before induction into the
armed
forces resembled those of equally poorly educated and
unskilled
Malays. Foreign popular culture seemed equally tempting or
equally
threatening to young Singaporeans of all ethnic groups.
Ethnic
boundaries persisted, especially where they corresponded
with
religious distinctions, and were evident in the continuing
low rate
of ethnic intermarriage. In daily life, however, the
significance
of ethnic affiliation had apparently diminished from the
levels of
previous generations.
Government policies were a major factor in the
continuation of
ethnicity as an organizing principle of Singapore's
society. On the
one hand, the government and the ruling party acted to
break up
ethnic enclaves, to provide public services to members of
all
ethnic groups, and to reshape society with the network of
People's
Association Community Centers, Residents' Committees, and
Members
of Parliament Constituent Advisory Groups. On the other
hand, the
government's ideology defined Singaporeans as members of
component
ethnic groups, and its various ministries listed
everyone's "race"
on their identity card and all official records, and
remained very
concerned with such matters as the ethnic mix in apartment
complexes. Official statistics usually included breakdowns
by
"race," indicating an assumption that such categorization
was
significant. National holidays featured displays of the
distinctive
traditional cultures of the major ethnic groups,
represented by
costumes, songs, and dances. Pupils in secondary schools
took
required courses in the ethics and religion of their
designated
traditional culture--Confucian ethics for the Chinese,
Islamic
studies for the Malays, Hindu or Sikh studies for the
Indians, and
Buddhism or Bible study as options open to all.
Although state policies reinforced ethnic boundaries
and the
habit of ethnic categorization, they had little effect on
the
content of the ethnic categories. Ethnic identity was
acted out on
a daily basis through an extensive network of ethnically
exclusive
associations. Many Malay and Indian associations took a
religious
form, such as mosque and endowment management committees,
sharia
(Muslim law--see Glossary) courts, Hindu temple committees
and the
high-level Hindu Advisory Board, which represented Hindus
to the
government. An example of the reinforcement of ethnic
identity was
provided by the groups of Indian employees in one
government
department who distinguished themselves from their Malay
and
Chinese coworkers by jointly sponsoring festivals at a
major Hindu
temple. All ethnic groups had their own education and
charitable
associations as well as higher-order federations of such
associations whose officers were the recognized community
leaders.
Singapore law required all associations of ten or more
persons to
be registered with the government, which supervised and
could
dissolve them. Trade unions, financial, education, and
religious
bodies were supervised by the appropriate government
departments,
and the catch-all Registry of Societies listed all
associations
that did not come under the authority of a specialized
department.
In 1987 3,750 associations were under the Registry of
Societies.
The most elaborate set of ethnic associations was found
among
the Chinese, who in 1976 supported over 1,000 clan,
locality,
occupational, religious, and recreational associations.
The
membership of each association usually was restricted to
those
speaking the same dialect or tracing ancestry to the same
small
region of China. The lowest level associations were clan
or
district associations, which were in turn grouped into
federations
based on progressively larger administrative or linguistic
regions
of China. The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and
Industry,
founded in 1906, was the overarching association that
represented
the entire Chinese community. A federation, its
constituent units
were not individuals or individual businesses but
associations. Its
basic structure consisted of representatives of seven
regional
associations (Fujian, Teochiu, Cantonese, Hakka 1, Hakka
2, Hainan,
and "Three Rivers") and ninety-three trade associations,
each one
usually restricted to speakers of one dialect.
The functions and activities of the associations were
multiple,
reflecting the concerns of members and leaders. Common
activities
included mutual aid; insurance benefits; foundation and
maintenance
of schools, hospitals, or cemeteries; contributions to the
same
sorts of public projects in the ancestral districts of
China;
settling disputes between members; acting as spokesman for
the
community to the government; and promoting good fellowship
and
continuing identification with the clan or region.
Associations
were run by committees and met at least once a year for a
formal
banquet. Association leaders were prosperous businessmen
who had
played a major part in fundraising and the management of
activities. Success in business gave them both the free
time to
devote to association activities and the funds to
contribute to the
association and its charities. The associations conferred
prestige
and public recognition on those who took the burdens of
office and
community service, but the community so served was
restricted to
those from the same region and speaking the same dialect.
The
leadership of the lowest level associations was usually
provided by
those of moderate means, while the more wealthy belonged
to several
or many associations and worked for the higher level, more
inclusive associations, which conferred more public
recognition and
prestige. The mechanisms of leadership and prestige and
the
channeling of much charity and assistance (schools,
scholarship
fund, hospitals, recommendations for employment or loans
from
Chinese banks, death benefits) through the associations
thus
reinforced ethnic and subethnic identification for both
poor and
rich.
In a pattern common to Chinese urban society in China
and in
Southeast Asia, groups defined by common place of origin
or dialect
also tended to specialize in certain trades or monopolies.
Exactly
which regional group dominated which trade varied from
place to
place and represented historical accidents and
contingencies, but
the principle of a regional group also acting as an
occupational
group was common. As late as the 1980s, the Singapore
Hokkien were
dominant in banking, insurance, shipping, hardware, real
estate,
and other lucrative fields. Within the Hokkien community,
smaller
subgroups controlled particular trades. For example, 96
percent of
the merchants dealing in China tea in the 1980s traced
their
ancestry to Anxi County in southern Fujian. Teochiu
dominated the
fresh produce trade and the jewelry and antiques business;
Cantonese predominated in furniture making, watch and
clock repair,
and operating drug stores and restaurants; and the Hakka
were
pawnbrokers, tailors, and dealers in Chinese herbs and
medicines.
The Henghua people from northern Fujian, a small component
of the
Chinese population, controlled the very important bicycle,
motorcycle, and taxi businesses. Over the years the speech
groups
competed for the control of trades, and the pattern of
dialect-
specific occupations was a dynamic one, with, for example,
strong
competition for shares of the textile trade. In the 1980s,
four
textile trade associations represented Teochiu, Hokkien,
Hakka, and
Cantonese traders. The competition between speech groups
reinforced
both their internal solidarity and the social boundaries
between
them. Regional associations were, to a certain extent,
also trade
associations. For the large proportion of the Chinese
population
employed in regional commerce, service trades, or
small-scale
manufacturing, there remained a close relation between
ethnicity
and occupation, each aspect reinforcing the other.
For the proprietors and employees of many small and
medium
Chinese businesses, continued identification with dialect
and
subethnic communities provided many benefits and indeed
was a
precondition for engaging in many lines of trade. Although
the
dialect communities were not primarily occupational
groups, the
social solidarities created within the communities were
economically useful. Much of the business activity in the
extensive
Chinese "traditional" sector of the economy depended on
credit,
personal relations, and the reputation of individuals for
trustworthiness. In the final analysis, individuals met
their
obligations because failure to do so would result in
immediate loss
of reputation and creditworthiness with their fellows in
restricted
subethnic communities.
For many members of the Chinese community, economic
self-
interest reinforced the identification with an ethnic or
subethnic
community and the continued use of a regional dialect.
Such
individuals tended to be both more intensely and
self-consciously
"Chinese" and "Teochiu" or "Anxi Hokkien" than their
fellows, who
might well be their own brothers, sons, or daughters, who
worked
for the government or large multinational corporations.
For the
latter, formal educational certification, command of
English, and
perhaps skill at golf rather than Chinese finger games and
etiquette were associated with economic success.
Data as of December 1989
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